


finding my feet

by BlushingDragon



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Dancing, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, No beta reader, Portia Ships It, Romance, Schmoopy syrupy nonsense, let them be happy damn it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-12
Updated: 2017-09-12
Packaged: 2018-12-26 19:32:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12065565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlushingDragon/pseuds/BlushingDragon
Summary: Sybil didn't know how to tell her. In the magician's defense, the topic hadn't come up often enough for her to be concerned about it before, but now that the days until the masquerade were dropping like flies, Sybil owed Nadia the truth.





	finding my feet

**Author's Note:**

> me: *notices that there isn't a single f/f work in the fandom tag*  
> me: i've gotta do everything myself don't i. here. have some happy wlw.

Sybil didn't know how to tell her. In the magician's defense, the topic hadn't come up often enough for her to be concerned about it before, but now that the days until the masquerade were dropping like flies, Sybil owed Nadia the truth.

It wasn't as if Sybil was too afraid of Nadia to tell her; on the contrary, after seeing the Countess blush pink, Sybil couldn't be scared of Nadia if she tried. She was more worried than anything about just what Nadia would do with the information. Depending on the Countess' reaction, Sybil's very livelihood would be on the line.

When Sybil had approached Portia with her concerns, the handmaiden assured Sybil that she was worrying for nothing, even had the gall to laugh in the face of her predicament, but Portia's reassurances did nothing to calm Sybil's anxious thoughts as she oscillated from foot to foot outside Nadia's chambers.

Sybil took a deep breath, approached the door... and took a step back. She tried once again: deep breath, step forward, step back. Once Sybil was sure that she had gathered the requisite courage, it seemed to slip out of her fingers. 

 _You can do this,_ Sybil insisted to herself, attempting to channel her inner Portia, but her cowardly tendencies had reared their heads high.

Thankfully, before Sybil could commence another round of 'will-I-won't-I', Nadia's chamber door swung open. The Countess didn't look as if she'd tried to sleep, which evoked a conflict of emotions in Sybil; relief that she hadn't woken Nadia from restful sleep, but worry on behalf of her poor sleeping habits.

Nadia didn't seem entirely surprised to see Sybil despite the late hour. She smiled, as if faintly amused, and her low voice was smooth as silk when she spoke. "Good evening, Sybil."

She spoke the magician's given name like a physical caress, which Sybil would've found both enchanting and delightful if she'd been in such a mood, but once Nadia stood in front of her, Sybil couldn't help but blurt out the source of her anxieties in one burst of words.

"I've never danced before."

For one terrible, too-long moment, Nadia's face didn't change at all and sat frozen in languid curiosity. Slowly, the change spreads across her face. Her smile grows wider, sharper, and the corners of her eyes crinkle in a way Sybil never saw before. Nadia's posture lost some of the performative stiffness she held there, and she reached out a hand to invite Sybil into her chambers. 

"We can't have a masquerade if my guest of honor cannot dance," decreed Nadia, guiding Sybil into the sparsely decorated sitting room.

For a moment, Sybil stood unmoving, unsure if what was happening to her was real. "You're going to teach me to dance?" She asked, her voice weak with disbelief. "Right here, right now? Not going to foist me off to some etiquette advisor or something?"

Nadia kept a gentle hold on her wrist, as if Sybil were a spooked foal to be kept from bolting. Slowly, the Countess slid her hand to rest at the small of Sybil's back, where she could feel the shiver than ran down the magician's spine as her next words left her lips on a whisper: "They would wish to be so lucky."

Through the thin fabric of Sybil's nightgown, Nadia's hand felt like a miniature sunburst threatening to overheat her. Even with both women barefoot, Nadia was still much taller than Sybil, which created the perfect opportunity for Sybil to lay her head on the Countess's shoulder.

"Follow my lead," Nadia murmured, warm breath ghosting across the shell of her ear. 

Sybil stepped back as Nadia stepped forward, turned as Nadia strung her along, moved to the guidance of Nadia's hand on her back. It was halting at first, but as the Countess murmured warm encouragements into her curly black hair, Sybil felt as if she were gliding on air.

The scent of lavender had Sybil on the knife's edge of breathlessness, and as the women completed another turn, she took a chance and pressed her smile into Nadia's bare brown shoulder. In response, the hand on her back held her more securely, and with a breathless gasp, the young magician found herself with an exciting view of the ornate ceiling.

Sybil's heart jumped into her throat as Nadia eased her up, standing close enough that Sybil could count every tiny freckle adorning those sharp brown cheekbones.

A low, breathy laugh escaped Nadia. "That, my dear, is what a first dance should be," she murmured softly. Her scarlet eyes were dark and tender as she looked down and into eyes pale blue like the sky.

Inspired or perhaps emboldened by those red eyes, Sybil leaned forward and took a different kind of first for her own: a soft, sweet kiss, barely a brush of their lips before Sybil relaxed her toes and sank back down on her heels.

This time, Sybil was sure that the Countess is well and truly shocked. Eyes wide, Nadia's long, delicate fingers grazed her lips in disbelief. Just as the thought of running and never looking back entered Sybil's head, however, the crinkle-eyed smile returned, and to Sybil's delight, Nadia proved to be quite adept at giving seconds as well as firsts.

Sybil reached up on her tip toes again, but rather than wobbling, her feet have never felt steadier.


End file.
